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Monday, September 10, 2012

Scooping up votes in swing states is how Paul Ryan serves Mitt Romney best. And what better dissatisfied liberal bloc for the Republicans to court than marijuana supporters, stunned by President Obama's total betrayal?

Hence the vice presidential candidate's stance in a college town in swinging Colorado, which will vote on legalizing marijuana at the November ballot, striking a libertarian tone to questions about marijuana enforcement. "It's up to Coloradans to decide," Ryan told Colorado Springs's KRDO. "My personal positions on this issue have been let the states decide what to do with these things.... What I've always believed is the states should decide."

Except not really, of course. Ryan as recently as May voted against an effort to weaken federal law enforcement's war on state-legal marijuana. So why would he even bother with such blarney -- is it merely craven, or does the GOP tickets' pitch to "weedheads" prove they're "desperate"?

Ryan's timing is dead-on. Marijuana is a hot issue in Colorado, which could be the first state in the union to legalize marijuana in November. Enough to win over pro small government, socially liberal Colorado?

Here's the brief exchange involving marijuana from the interview:

Singer: In Colorado we have medical marijuana. Under a Romney-Ryan ticket, what happens? Ryan: It's up to Coloradans to decide. Singer: So even if federal law says marijuana is illegal, you're saying? Ryan: My personal positions on this

issue have been let the states decide what to do with these things.

This is something that is not a high priority of ours as to whether or

not we go down the road on this issue. What I've always believed is the

Not so much the Republican platform: A Romney spokesperson reassured voters that the GOP ticket oppose marijuana legalization. And Ryan's record would appear to belie his "personal positions." Ryan in May voted against a measure to "let the states decide," opposing fellow Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher's move to defund federal involvement in medical marijuana where the drug is legal.

Medical marijuana advocates are visibly upset with Obama, and cannabis organizers like Americans for Safe Access hope to make medical marijuana an issue in the 2012 presidential election. Only Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson, a former Republican governor of New Mexico, has proposed an alternative to the drug war status quo.

Unfortunately for those hoping for a real change, there's absolutely no connection with Ryan's brief words and the permanent record. "Romney has

failed to declare a similar promise to Americans, so it's not clear

that a Romney Administration would have a different enforcement

policy than what we're seeing today," said ASA spokesman Kris Hermes. "Ryan is also dodging the question of what a Romney/Ryan

administration would do about medical marijuana at the federal

level."

"How desperate do they have to be to court the weedhead vote?" mused

Mickey Martin, the East Bay cannabis activist and man behind edibles

legend Tainted, Inc., who described Ryan's words as "such a big fucking

About The Author

Bio:
Chris Roberts has spent most of his adult life working in San Francisco news media, which is to say he's still a teenager in Middle American years. He has covered marijuana, drug policy, and politics for SF Weekly since 2009.

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Sub Pop recording artists 'clipping.' brought their brand of noise-driven experimental hip hop to the closing night of 2016's San Francisco Electronic Music Fest this past Sunday. The packed Brava Theater hosted an initially seated crowd that ended the night jumping and dancing against the front of the stage. The trio performed a set focused on their recently released Sci-Fi Horror concept album, 'Splendor & Misery', then delved into their dancier and more aggressive back catalogue, and recent single 'Wriggle'.
Opening performances included local experimental electronic duo 'Tujurikkuja' and computer music artist 'Madalyn Merkey.'"